Finally - the small atmospheric ship is complete!
I wasn't sure how the atmospheric thrusters would perform and if the ship could be used for more than just hovering, but during a first test flight the handling was excellent. I need to take better care though as I almost crashed into ground after a steep descend from high altitude. The atmosphere is pretty thin of course and it takes some time to return from high velocity maneuvers to a complete standstill. I should know better.
After a few final tests I used the chance to evaluate the landing site using the bottom-mounted camera module. There isn't much to see right away so I tried again from higher altitude using the hi-res capture mode (full resolution images are included in this log).
There are several ice pockets and I also noticed lots of smaller iron ore deposits around the landing site. It seems I'll be able to put the drills on this ship to good use.
As the ship is also equipped with a forward-facing camera I managed to have a closer look at the moon above this planet.
The moon looks rather barren and from what I can tell it doesn't seem to have any atmosphere. This is actually good news as it might increase chances of finding signs of civilization there.
The standard procedure when establishing colonies or mining sites in a new solar system includes landing on moons as one of the first steps. Moons are excellent bases for further exploration as the low gravity makes landing and take-off much easier. In addition landing does not require any special atmospheric or hydrogen thrusters - any ship with standard space-flight ion thrusters can use moons for landing and restocking.
Once you approach the atmosphere of a planet, things get a lot more complicated. Large-scale operations are normally performed using command ships above the planet and personell and resources are sent down using lander ships, just like the one I was assigned to. Transports between the ground base and off-planet ships would then be run by highly specialised cargo ships which can make the transition from space flight to atmospheric flight (and vice versa). Large command ships never touch down on such planets as the sheer mass would require huge amounts of thrust to prevent them from crashing - full force - into the surface.
There are some exceptions: various smaller military frigates can even perform combat maneuvers wherever they are deployed - in space as well as in any atmosphere. Similar ship designs were also considered for smaller industrial projects but never made it past the early development stages.
Coordinated fleets are seen as much more viable.
Unless you're stuck with just a single lander ship.
I'm a computer gamer.
I like sandbox games.
Sandbox games often don't have much of a storyline. But you can always invent your own.
This is the story of an engineer and his journey.
This is my story of playing Space Engineers.
It is a diary and it is a game walkthrough. But most of all it is meant to be fun.
I hope you will like it.
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